Friend or Foe
by Need2Scream
Summary: Re-re-post. Once upon a time this was called "Zip,Flop, Oh My God." The Autobots discover they're not the only sentient robots in the universe, unfortunately, they're not quite getting along with each other. Autobots and OCs
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Not mine, never was, and never will be. This never happened, it's all fiction and I'm not making any money.

**OoO**

**Sam's POV**

The last day of school, the last five minutes of the most boring history class to ever grace the earth. The day seemed even longer, a life time almost, if one was going on a cross country road trip. The day would seem like millennia if one was going on a cross country road trip with their new girlfriend and alien robot friends. Five minutes in the last class of the day, on the last day of school would feel like an _eternity_ if one was going cross country with his girlfriend and alien robot friends so that said aliens could hopefully find more of their robotic comrades.

Four minutes and counting, Sam watched the minute hand his eyes boring holes into the face of the clock. Still the minute hand refused to move any faster. How angry would his teacher be if he just got up and ran out the door? Better yet, how angry would Mikaela be?

Three minutes.

Sam turned to look behind him and saw Mikaela staring out the window with a soft smile playing on her lips. Sam followed her line of sight the best he could and there out in the student parking lot next to his 2009 Camero a massive C4500 black Topkick was idling, rather impatiently it seemed. Sam shook his head and glanced back at Mikaela who smiled wider. Turning back around Sam went back to staring at the clock.

One Minute.

Thirty Seconds.

Sam was outta there, with Mikaela close behind.

As soon as they were inside Bumblebee, music began pouring from his speakers,

_School's out for summer_

_School's out forever_

_School's been blown to pieces_

_No more pencils_

_No more books_

_No more teachers dirty looks_

Bumblebee shot out of the parking lot with Ironhide burning rubber to catch up.

**oOo**

Tranquility really was a very tranquil place, unless two Autobots decided to street race. Then things could become very un-tranquil. Bumblebee came to a skidding halt in front of Sam's house. Sam's white knuckled grip on the steering wheel loosened only with the promise of solid ground outside the driver's door. Mikaela was laughing hysterically as though she enjoyed the suicidal/homicidal robot's driving.

"Oh come on Sam, it wasn't that bad! But Bee next time you decide to race a train could you leave just a little more breathing room behind us, I think you lost some paint." Bumblebee played a sound byte of a train whistle, Mikaela laughed again and Sam curled into the fetal position.

"Come oh mighty Earth saving warrior, you told me you needed to pack." Mikaela mocked as she uncurled Sam from his current place on the ground. As Sam slowly uncoiled himself the loud roar of a diesel was heard as Ironhide barreled down the quiet suburban street. Ironhide screeched to a stop next to Bumblebee, his engine growling. Bumblebee revved his own engine and smoked his tires as he took off on another suicidal drive through the quiet streets of Tranquility with Ironhide hot on his trail.

"Optimus would flip if he knew what they were doing." Sam said, still a little shakily. He cringed as he watched them disappear around the next block and then looked at Mikaela, "Well, they should be able to entertain themselves while I get my crap together."

Mikaela rolled her eyes, "If your room is organized like it was the last time I saw it, we may need to postpone this entire trip." Sam glared at her and grumbling under his breath led the way into the house.

Despite Mikaela's pessimistic attitude Sam had his things packed and ready to go within an hour. When they emerged from the house Bumblebee and Ironhide had been joined by a silver hardtop Pontiac Solstice, the newly resurrected Jazz.

"'Sup, lil' dawgs!"

Mikaela walked over to the gleaming vehicle and gently patted the hood, "Nothin' much, how're you doing?"

"Jus' chillin' an' drivin' th' Hatchet crazy, ya' know th' usual." Jazz revved his engine, "so, ya' guys ready ta' go or what?"

"Yeah, we gotta stop by Mikaela's house so she can grab her things then we hit the road." Sam answered throwing his backpack and gym bag in Ironhide's bed.

"Fo'shizzle, I'll meet ya' over there." And with that Jazz sped off down the street towards Mikaela's house. Ironhide grumbled something about 'spastic droids' and, despite his previous race with Bumblebee, left in a calmer dignified manner.

_Hey, Ho, Let's Go!_

"Fine, Fine, we're coming. Sheesh you are so impatient." Sam climbed into the driver's side and Mikaela slid in next to him.

The current Autobot headquarters was stationed in Capt. Will Lennox's barn. Optimus was leaning against said barn when Bumblebee, Jazz, and Ironhide rolled up. Gracefully Optimus stood as his soldiers drove up the long drive. Sam and Mikaela waved at excitedly at Optimus, who returned the gesture with a kind smile. Ratchet appeared next to Optimus eyeing the other three Autobots carefully, "Everything is in order Optimus." Ratchet transformed and pulled alongside Jazz idling quietly. Optimus changed into his flame streaked Peterbilt, "Good, alright Autobots, Roll Out."

**oOo**

Several miles up in the cold darkness of space two pods drifted gracefully toward Earth. Dead as they may have looked inside each slept a life force that had been burning with a single minded purpose for millennia. They were undetectable to any human radar and once they woke they would stop at nothing to reach their goal.

A/N: I killed it, resurrected it, killed it again, and now it's back with two, almost three, brand new spiffy chapters packed with action.

Bad, bad, bad author I know, but I will finish this. I refuse to leave any story unfinished, not only does it drive me bonkers but it annoys readers as well. So, thank you, once again, for your reviews and for reading…again, lol.

Songs:

'School's Out' - Alice Cooper

'Blitzkrieg Bop'- The Ramones (Thank You Virus16623)


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Not mine never happened. I'm not profiting or anything like that I'm just bored and drifting into La-La-Land and writing things down.

**oOo**

**Omni POV**

"Bee, where are we going?" Sam yawned. They had been driving for almost three and a half hours in the oddest convoy to ever trek the earth. A flaming Peterbilt leading the pack followed by a roaring black C4500 Topkick, a bright green emergency rescue hummer, silver Pontiac Solstice, and finally a shiny yellow 2009 Camaro. Said Camaro revved his engine making Sam think he was being laughed at. Lightly he smacked the passenger seat head rest.

_Just let me drive, mmm, let me drive. I wanna feel that power comin' alive. Darlin' let me drive, mmm, let me drive, baby don't ask directions. Who needs a map when there's time to ride?_

Sam laughed and Mikaela, who had been asleep against the door, raised a sleepy eyebrow, "Bette Midler? Not my first choice, but whatever."

Bumblebee's engine revved again and he lightly rocked on his wheels. Feeling the car slow Sam looked up surprised to see Optimus turning into what looked like a small deer path. His surprise, though, was quickly swallowed by fear when Bumblebee turned onto the path.

It technically wasn't even a path, it was a cratered battlefield, and thinking back to science class Sam was reminded of the pictures they had seen of the surface of the moon. Bumblebee of course plowed headlong onto the path hitting potholes and ruts with a devilish delight. Sam sat in the driver seat swearing and cursing every bump the Autobot managed to hit. He also began to question Mikaela's sanity as she laughed and urged Bee to go faster.

After what seemed like years Bumblebee came to a jarring halt next to Jazz. They were in a relatively large clearing, surrounded by large, ancient looking trees and filled with scruffy grass.

"Okay, are you gonna tell me where we are now? Especially after _that_ little escapade. I'm surprised my limbs are still attached." Sam complained as Bee opened the doors. Mikaela laughed, "C'mon Sam that was fun!"

Sam opened his mouth to say something to her about taking her medication, when he remembered what he heard about the insane tow truck incident. Instead he shook his head and watched the giant mechs transform.

"We are in Serenity. This is a protected area of forest, or what your government calls a 'National Park'." Stated Optimus calmly.

"A National Park? Isn't that too, I dunno, public? I mean hikers could come through here at anytime or something." Sam cautiously peered into the surrounding woods. With a quiet laugh Optimus carefully sat next to a sturdy maple. "It is a public area, but our scanners can easily pick up approaching humans." He reassured. Sam nodded in relief. He really didn't want to have _that_ conversation with someone right now.

"Now, we get to chill out ma' man, I gotta say that wasn't the most interestin' drive I've taken." Jazz drawled, he did a quick stretch and flopped on his back, tucking his hands behind his head. Bumblebee bounced over and tackled the other mech making Jazz yelp. Optimus shook his head and with a quiet chuckle reclined against a tree. After a few minutes of wrestling Bumblebee and Jazz quieted they both reclined in the middle of the clearing soaking up the last of the evening sun.

_Yo',I'm just kickin' it! Yeah, yeah, just kickin' it_!

The relaxing silence that had begun to settle over the valley was shattered by a loud burst of song from Bumblebee's speakers. The sound made Sam jump and he glared at his guardian, Mikaela had jumped too but she only laughed.

"_Relax, Relate, Release. Relax, Relate, Release. It goes R times R times R, let it rain. R times R times R, let it rain."_

Jazz chimed in. Whatever quiet meditation time Optimus had been hoping to have was officially gone and never coming back.

"_Relax, kick your shoes off baby. Relax, here we are alone. Relax, if the phone rings, let it. Just forget it, we're not at home."_

Mikaela laughed harder, "Elvis, seriously?" she clapped a hand over her mouth and continued to giggle as Bumblebee and Jazz went back and forth.

"Bumblebee! Your vocal processors have been fixed for almost three weeks. Must you keep using those annoying bytes?" Ratchet glared at his young patient. Bumblebee sat up and let out a burst of Cybertronian and the medics glare softened, a little. "Fine, but you need to work your vocals or they'll go right back to being useless."

Bumblebee flashed a sweet smile at the medic and dropped back to his former position.

_You're foaming at the mouth, you're mad without a doubt_— Jazz's speakers blared to life, but were quickly silenced by a well aimed branch. Bumblebee let out a peal of laughter as the silver 'bot sat up spitting out leaves and bark and glared at the medic who wore a satisfied smirk. Sam tried to stifle his laughter as the silver mech began muttering, what Sam assumed to be, curses in many different languages. He heard Optimus chuckle quietly and Ironhide snorted but there was a smile on his face.

Abruptly the laid back atmosphere became tangible with tension.

Jazz and Bumblebee shut off their music and were on their feet faster than Sam thought possible. Sam's laughter caught in his throat as Ratchet and Ironhide took up perimeter positions and Optimus began speaking rapid Cybertronian.

"What?" Sam began searching the trees and darkening sky for Decepticons. Mikaela stood next to him also warily searching the thick underbrush.

"Music." Was Jazz's curt reply as he continued to scan the woods.

"Music?" Sam was thoroughly confused, how could music be bad? They had just been blaring music back and forth, then the realization hit him like one of Starscream's missiles. Music equaled people, and people didn't know about the alien refugees they were sharing space with.

"Wait, I thought you said your scanners could pick up people?" Mikaela was looking at Ratchet for an explanation.

"We can, but that's the problem, there aren't any humans on our scanners. They are either being shielded by something, or our signals are being scrambled." He said tightly.

"Which means we don't know how close they are, or if they're even human." Ironhide finished.

"Bumblebee, Jazz." Optimus was still searching the perimeter, Bumblebee and Jazz gave a silent nod to their commander and slowly began pushing through the underbrush towards the sound. Mikaela began jogging after them,

"Mikaela where are you going?" Sam took off after her.

"Well, if the music is coming from people, what do you think Bumblebee and Jazz are going to do? Walk up and introduce themselves?" Mikaela didn't slow her pace as she pushed through bushes and low hanging branches. Sam shrugged and followed.

The larger robots covered ground more quickly than Sam and Mikaela, but their footprints were easy to follow and they quickly caught up to the two 'bots crouched at the edge of a valley.

"I can't believe it." Jazz's voice was like beating moth wings in a quiet room, Sam wasn't sure if he'd even heard it. Moving beside his guardian Sam and Mikaela each let out a gasp of surprise.

**oOo**

The valley itself was beautiful, with steep sloping sides covered in soft, lush grasses that swayed gently in the breeze, the floor of the valley was littered with small, fairy like trees, wildflowers, and more of the thick grasses that covered the floor. With tendrils of evening mist swirling in the air Sam wouldn't have been more surprised if a unicorn had stepped into view. But he was absolutely shocked to see two figures running, jumping, and chasing each other, around the feet of a giant robot.

The robot wasn't as big as Optimus or Megatron, but he was still a few feet taller than Bumblebee and Jazz. The thing that intrigued Sam the most was the robot's appearance. It wasn't bulky like the Autobots or Decepticons, it was slender. If Sam had to compare him to a human he would say this new robot was a tri-athlete, whereas the Autobots and Decepticons would be body builders. He was a sand color, with different swirls of yellows, reds, and blues that reflected the light of the setting sun. The robot's face was a darker shade of the same sand-yellow color, his optics didn't glow the usual red or blue instead they were a strange sea-green/teal color. It had a slender almost feminine looking face; that looked almost thoughtful, definitely intelligent.

"It's beautiful, like a supermodel or something, but in robot form." Mikaela sounded awed. The robot continued to sit calmly, lounging back on his elbows as the two figures continued to chase and wrestle.

"There's another one." Mikaela murmured as quietly as Jazz. Bumblebee and Jazz tensed emitting quiet whirs as they scanned the area again.

"There's another human, it's on the thing's shoulder." She clarified. Both Autobots relaxed back to their previous tension. Sam peered more closely at the sandy colored robot, and there perched on his shoulder was indeed another figure. In the growing twilight Sam wasn't sure though if it was a human or just a trick of the light and mist, the figure was barely discernable on the robots slender shoulder. Sam realized the robot's head was cocked to the side making Sam think he was listening to the figure. The music that had initially drawn them to the valley shut off as a clear flute-like voice echoed lightly through the valley, "Guess what time it is!"

_Its peanut butter jelly time, peanut butter jelly time! Now where ye' at, where ye' at? Now there ya' go, there ya' go! Peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly_!

The robot raised a hand and the small figure jumped on and was delivered safely to the ground as bell-like laughter followed the loud song. Sam shifted, and like a thunder crack a twig snapped under him.

The valley fell unnaturally silent in a heartbeat. The robot was crouched in a defensive position glaring death; it seemed, right at Sam. Bumblebee and Jazz were equally defensive as they sprang up in front of Sam and Mikaela. Letting out a series of whistles and chirps Sam and Mikaela felt the ground shudder as Optimus, Ironhide, and Ratchet jumped from their hiding places landing on the lip of the valley.

"Name and designation, whose side are you on?" Optimus' booming voice carried an edge that he only used when he spoke to Decepticons. The other 'bot did not move or speak; the humans behind him fidgeted. Optimus' voice lost some of the edge the next time he spoke, "We will not hurt you or your humans. We only wish to know who you are."

The robot was like a statue, but one of the small figures moved from behind him to his side. Patting the robot's massive leg the figure took a dozen cautious steps forward, the other two followed. The robot let out a low sound that vibrated through the ground; Ironhide's cannons were hot and ready, pointing them at the other 'bot, "Watch yerself hot shot." Was his warning growl.

"'Hide." Optimus warned. The figures had stopped during the brief exchange, the smaller of the three turned and looked up at the mech, after a moment the 'bot nodded and relaxed his position. Sam felt the Autobots tense as the mech straightened out.

"My associates have requested I be civil, and so I will be. My name, since you asked so nicely, is Sandstorm. My rank and designation, well, quiet frankly that is none of your damn business." The robot's voice was a soft tenor, distinctly male; the tone also seemed to imply he had a problem with authority.

Ironhide growled, his cannons crackling, Optimus shot him another warning glance. Again Sam heard the bell-like laughter; looking down into the valley he could now see the figures at the base of the slope. There were two boys and a small girl, all three of which were trying to stifle their laughter.

Sam had to admit he'd never seen anyone in boring old Tranquility that he could compare to the trio. From the small amount of skin Sam could see he deduced that the girl really was a ghost. Her skin was white, snow white, paper white, alabaster white; whatever you wanted to call it the girl was _white_. She wore a black bucket hat that was covered in patches; from underneath the hat a short ponytail stuck out, if possible her hair was even whiter than her skin, it was almost translucent. She had on a black long sleeved shirt with a skull and rose on it; her black pants were covered in chains and zippers.

The boys were dressed similar, the one on the left had dark brown hair streaked with honey, it looked like his hair had been cut with a weed whacker, some pieces falling into his face, in other areas it barely touched the top of his ears. He was wearing a tight fitting black shirt with a demented smiley face on it. His skin was a light honey color, but looked almost caramel next to the white girl. His black pants were also loaded with chains and zippers.

The boy on the right was surprisingly similar in appearance to the other. His hair was darker, almost black; instead of honey streaks Sam thought he could see burgundy and dark blue. Again, his hair looked like it had been caught in a machine, but it was almost consistently below his ears. His black shirt was also snug fitting the words _Korn_ were scrawled across the front. His skin was slightly darker than his friends, really was a startling contrast to the girl's. His pants weren't covered in chains and zippers, but every seam was outlined in bright red.

Jazz and Bumblebee bristled, but didn't take their eyes off of Sandstorm. Optimus didn't spare them a glance, but seemed to be annoyed at Sandstorm's answer.

"Are you friend or foe Sandstorm?" the edge had returned to Optimus' voice.

"Neither." Was Sandstorm's curt reply. Optimus' optics narrowed, "I'm afraid I don't understand." Sandstorm sighed, "Neither. That implies, that I am not a friend or an enemy, I am neutral."

"All th' neutrals were killed by th' cons." Ironhide growled, cannons heating to an icy blue. Sandstorm glared at him, "Well I don't know what the hell a 'con' is and I don't know who the hell you are. So until we get some things straightened out buddy, that's all the info you're gettin' on me." The sandy colored mech barked angrily. Ironhide's cannons turned red as he and Sandstorm glared at each other.

"Sandy, play nice!" The flute-like voice rang through the valley, small laughs punctuating the short sentence. A smile flickered across the mech's face, but soon he was back to glaring at the Autobots. The valley was plunged into a tense silence for a beat, Sam was beginning to worry someone might start firing. He looked down at the three teens again, they had stopped at the edge of the valley and were looking up at them smiling.

Mikaela stepped forward, "I really don't see what you find so funny about this, what you guys are treating as a joke is dead serious to us." She glared at the teenagers at the bottom of the valley. All three looked at her, "You sound like my mom." Stated the boy with the strange and scary smiley face on his shirt, he had a low scratchy tenor voice; it sounded like he was losing his voice. His two friends began giggling again. Mikaela was a heartbeat away from going down there and giving them each a piece of her mind, but Sam grabbed her arm.

"Hey," he shouted down, gathering everyone's attention, "you remember that battle a couple weeks ago in Mission City? These are the guys that were in that, they've been through enough in the last couple of centuries and they don't need your disrespect." Sam was glaring at the trio, daring them to laugh again. They didn't look the least bit cowed. The small girl still had an impish smile on her features and the boys looked like they were trying to keep their laughter contained.

Sandstorm only raised an optic ridge, the three at the base of the valley looked from Sam to the Autobots, "Wow, you guys must have killer insurance rates." The boy with the _Korn_ shirt had a deeper voice than his friend; but he also sounded like he was losing his voice. The other two snorted and giggled, trying to hold back their laughter. Mikaela shook off Sam's grip and took a step towards the trio, but Sandstorm's voice cut through the air, "It won't do any good, they could find something to laugh at, at a funeral. It's who they are and probably why we get along so well."

"Common courtesy should be universal. Optimus has treated you respectfully and you laugh? I don't care what kind of authority problem you seem to have; war veterans should be treated better than that." Mikaela told him hotly. Sandstorm's expression was unreadable, "Fine, princess," he said in a laid back tone that held an icy undercurrent, he looked at Optimus, "as one war veteran to another, I think I'm done talking to you, _sir,_ and my cohorts and I will take our leave of you."

**oOo**

**Sandstorm's POV**

Who the hell did that little runt 'bot think he was? He was the one that had not only scared Axel, Kai, and Lani half to death, but Sandstorm almost wasted the little human that had broken the stick. Then the little bastard had called up his friends, which sadly, were bigger than Sandstorm and bristling with weapons. The largest 'bot with flames on his chest seemed to be the one in charge.

"Name and designation, whose side are you on?" His voice held an edge and an authoritative tone that Sandstorm had come to despise. He chose not to answer; he'd always had issues with people trying to tell him what to do.

"We will not hurt you or your humans, we only wish to know, who you are." The big robot was talking to him again, the edge had softened a little; but Sandstorm was still a little pissed at the unpleasant intrusion.

Feeling a light pat on his lower leg Sandstorm didn't relax, but he didn't stop Lani from approaching the other robots. Axel and Kai soon followed, like they always did, Sandstorm let out a low warning rumble resonate from him.

"Watch it hot shot." The big black mech was really the only one Sandstorm thought could give him a hard time; he looked trigger happy and clearly did not like the sandy colored mech.

"'Hide" The big mech was back to talking. Lani turned and gave Sandstorm a 'behave or your grounded look' and Sandstorm, let a small rush of air escape his vents he straightened, "My associates have requested I be civil, and so I will be. My name, since you asked so nicely, is Sandstorm. My rank and designation, well, quiet frankly that is none of your damn business." Sandstorm couldn't keep the petulant note out of his voice as he addressed the other robots. Lani let out one of her trademark laughs when she heard Sandstorm's reply. The two smaller robots did not look happy at being laughed at, 'flame boy' as Sandstorm dubbed him, seemed more annoyed at his answer than he did the laughing.

"Are you friend or foe Sandstorm?" He seemed irritated, Sandstorm smirked internally; he just lived to piss people off. What could he say, it was a gift.

"Neither." How the hell was he supposed to know if he was this glitchin' 'bot's enemy or friend?

"I'm afraid I don't understand." Flame boy was starting to sound like he'd let the big black mech unload on Sandstorm. Not that he was worried, these clunkers wouldn't give him too much trouble. Though the small silver and yellow ones looked faster than their larger comrades; he'd have to take them out first so he wouldn't have to worry about them circling behind him.

"Neither. That implies, that I am not a friend or an enemy, I am neutral." Sandstorm felt like he was talking to a child. It had been centuries since he had spoken to another sentient robot, and now he was wishing it would've been a couple more group was seriously grating on his nerves.

"All th' neutrals were killed by th' cons." The black mech had his cannons ready again. Sandstorm was tempted to roll his eyes but didn't want to give the silver or yellow robots a chance to grab Axel, Kai, or Lani.

"Well I don't know what the hell a 'con' is and I don't know who the hell you are. So until we get some things straightened out buddy, that's all the info you're gettin' on me." Sandstorm had a serious issue with people he didn't know prying him for information, especially if those people were trigger happy robots with an attitude problem. Said trigger happy 'bot's cannons were crackling menacingly, well it would've been menacing if Sandstorm thought the junker could hit him. His recoil springs were probably so old they didn't even make them anymore. Sandstorm began to bring his own weapons online with an inaudible purr his main cannon began to charge.

"Sandy, play nice!" Lani's clear voice cut through the tension in the air like a knife, Sandstorm didn't completely power his weapons down, but he reduced the power and slowed the charging to a crawl. He couldn't help the small smile that flickered across his face; the girl's enthusiasm was infectious, which brought him back to the angry, somewhat threatening robots she was standing in front of.

"I really don't see what you find so funny about this, what you guys are treating as a joke is dead serious to us." The female stepped forward, malice and annoyance clear in her tone; a blue light flickered on one of Sandstorm's screens, his weapons were hot and ready.

"You sound like my mom." Axel had always reminded Sandstorm of himself; the kid just had a knack for pissing people off. Lani and Kai of course broke into hysterics while the other female looked like she was ready to kill someone. The male that had been quiet, gently grabbed her arm, "Hey," the male was glaring at the Axel, Kai, and Lani, Sandstorm apparently forgotten. "You remember that battle a couple weeks ago in Mission City? These are the guys that were in that, they've been through enough in the last couple of centuries and they don't need your disrespect." He barked. Sandstorm raised an optic ridge, really not impressed with the small heartfelt speech.

In the brief silence that followed the outburst Sandstorm could practically feel the smart ass response that was guaranteed to come, mostly because he'd already thought of a good dozen; sure enough Kai didn't let him down, "Wow, you guys must have killer insurance rates." There was just enough awe in his voice to give the sentence a sincere yet mocking tone. Sandstorm held back his own laughter as Lani and Axel tried to keep themselves from losing it completely. Now both the female and the male were livid, Sandstorm decided to cut in before they tried to go after his three humans. "It won't do any good; they could find something to laugh at, at a funeral. It's who they are and probably why we get along so well." And it was true, Sandstorm was sure it was his ability to find humor in all of life's situations that kept him sane through the centuries.

"Common courtesy should be universal. Optimus has treated you respectfully and you laugh? I don't care what kind of authority problem you seem to have; war veterans should be treated better than that." The female looked like she was ready to rip out Sandstorm's circuits. He could care less, he now knew 'flame boy' had a name, Optimus; never heard of him. If the girl was going to talk about common courtesy and respect for veterans then Sandstorm felt obliged to set this little girl straight. "Fine, princess," Sandstorm glanced at Optimus, "as one war veteran to another, I think I'm done talking to you, _sir,_ and my cohorts and I will take our leave of you."

**oOo**

**Omni POV**

Sandstorm collapsed quickly into a Jeep Rubicon, his engine revved slightly as the doors popped open. The three teenagers with a quick wave ran towards the jeep and jumped in. Within a minute the jeep with its three passengers had disappeared from the valley.

"I still can't track them Optimus; he must have some sort of scrambling device activated." Ratchet sounded crankier than usual. He did not like the smart mouth Sandstorm. For some reason he'd had the feeling he and his fellow Autobots were lucky the annoying humans had been present. When Ratchet had run his initial check on the 'bot he hadn't been able to do more than process a very simple external scan, whatever was blocking their tracking sensors was also jamming his medical equipment.

"What the hell! Optimus are you gonna just let that smart ass punk and his friends walk away?" Mikaela's angry outburst pulled Ratchet from his musings.

"No Mikaela, I'm not. We need to know if he is sympathetic for the Decepticons, which, given his answers and demeanor is a very real possibility. Autobots, we need to roll out, now!" transforming quickly Optimus accelerated down the slope towards the area where Sandstorm had disappeared. Ratchet and Ironhide were hot on his tail. Bumblebee and Jazz quickly transformed, both still fuming, Sam and Mikaela were barely in when Bumblebee tore down the slope at break neck speed, Jazz keeping pace next to him.

If Sam had thought the insane chase with Barricade or the terrifying ride earlier that day were life threatening then this fanatical ride was a guarantee for death, Sam sat white faced and wide-eyed in the driver's seat waiting for death. Trees whipped by at blinding speed, Bumblebee swerved and missed a tree with a trunk of at least six feet by only centimeters.

Even Mikaela, who apparently had a thing for suicidal joy rides, had a white knuckled grip on the seat. When the convoy finally broke through the thick underbrush onto a small service road Sam thought he was going to cry, he'd never been so happy to see a road. The mad ride didn't end there though, the Autobots began to speed up, Sam watched as Bee's speedometer crept towards one hundred.

Mikaela on the other hand seemed to loosen up, now that there weren't any killer trees, rocks, or other such natural obstacles she didn't seem to mind the suicidal speed on the loose gravel road. Within minutes the Autobots had caught up to the sandy colored Jeep Rubicon. Transforming while still going at least ninety Ironhide flipped and rolled in front of Sandstorm with his weapons hot and ready. Ratchet, and Jazz also transformed and came to a sliding halt on either side of the rogue 'bot. Optimus transformed landed next to Ironhide, Bumblebee came to a screeching halt, throwing Mikaela and Sam out he transformed and took up position behind Sandstorm. Sam and Mikaela stayed back far enough that the Autobots didn't have to worry about stepping on them.

"Sandstorm, our conversation is not over." Optimus sounded angry, actually he sounded down right pissed. With a quiet rev of his engine the doors on the Rubicon opened and the three teens cautiously slid out. With a quiet whir of gears Sandstorm transformed, He stood protectively over the three teens in the same half crouch he'd used in the valley.

"Keep your humans out of this, they can pass freely, but until we are certain you are no threat you will be detained." Optimus was definitely angry. The three teens stared at Optimus for a moment then the small girl placed a hand on Sandstorm's leg and looked up at the quiet robot. The two boys did the same, Sandstorm relaxed out of his crouch, looking down at the three humans he flashed a smile; the three flashed their own grins and with the small fairy girl leading the way the three pranced out of the circle of robots toward Mikaela and Sam.

**OoOoO**

A/N: This is all so familiar...thanks for reading again!

Songs: Bette Midler- Let Me Drive

DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince- Just Kickin' it

Graham Coxon- Freakin' Out

Peanut Butter Jelly Time

Eddie Brock- Relax, Relate, Release

Elvis Presley- Relax


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Lies, Lies, Lies. Just like the government. None of this happened, I don't own Transformers, I'm not making money, ya' know, all that fun legal stuff that no one ever reads.

**OoO**

**Omni POV**

"Keep your humans out of this, they can pass freely, but until we are certain you are no threat you will be detained." Optimus was definitely angry. The three teens stared at Optimus for a moment then the small girl placed a hand on Sandstorm's leg and looked up at the quiet robot. The two boys did the same, Sandstorm relaxed out of his crouch, looking down at the three humans he flashed a smile; the three flashed their own grins and with the small fairy girl leading the way the three pranced out of the circle of robots towards Mikaela and Sam.

"Hi! I'm Illayna, Lani for short." The small ghost white girl practically skipped over to Sam and Mikaela introducing herself in her high clear voice. Her energy was amazing, Sam was sure he could see the air around her quivering.

She was even smaller than Sam had originally thought, barely clearing the middle of his chest; she couldn't have been taller than five feet. Now that she was closer Sam could read the many patches that littered her hat and shirt. _Linkin Park, Korn, Disturbed, P.O.D., Metallica, A.F.I., Mudvayne_; Sam assumed they were all bands of some kind. The only one he'd heard of was Metallica.

The two boys were taller than her and a lot more muscular than Sam had thought. They were still shorter than him by at least four inches, but they looked like they could easily kick his ass if they wanted too. They flanked the girl almost protectively as they walked up.

"'Sup, I'm Axel." Drawled the boy with the brown and honey hair, he had a laid back feeling surrounding him that diluted some of the energy that was pouring out of Lani.

"And I'm Kai." The other boy said pushing a lock of hair out of his eyes. He was seemed to be closer to Lani's energy level, but Sam had the feeling none of them were easily flustered.

Mikaela glared at them and Sam watched them warily. The clear bell-like laughter Sam was beginning to get accustomed to echoed throughout the silence that fallen on the stretch of lonely road. Mikaela straightened her shoulders and turned on the small girl, "Is something funny?" She was glaring death at Lani, Lani merely smiled, "You guys have almost as much hospitality as your friends over there. Weren't you the one that said something about 'common courtesy'?"

The boys snickered.

"Excuse me. Mind elaborating on that." Mikaela, if anything was looking more and more pissed by the second.

"Well, we came over and, as societal rules dictate, we introduced ourselves. You on the other hand have yet to do anything but glare at us." Kai was laughing again. Sam blinked a little taken back by the intelligent sentence. Of all the things he had thought of since he had first spoken, eloquent had never crossed his mind. He decided to step in before Mikaela could tear the kid a new one, "I'm Sam and this is my girlfriend Mikaela."

"Cool, well, while the big kids fight what do ya' wanna do?" Axel looked over his shoulder to glance at the robots.

"I've got some questions for you." Mikaela was still angry.

"Good God dude, she does sound like your mom Kai." Axel laughed as he reached around Lani and lightly punched Kai's arm; and like that the other two started laughing.

"Goddammit! Do you kids not get how serious this is? The Autobots are not screwin' around here, if Sandstep or whatever the hell his name is doesn't start cooperating I wouldn't be surprised if the Autobots just blew him into pieces. They've been through a lot to save our planet, our way of life from the most evil fucking robot army in the universe. In the process they almost lost a long time friend and they _did_ lose their last hope at restoring life on their planet. Now if you three would be serious for just five minutes we can work this out." Mikaela's face was flushed with anger; Sam stared at her with admiration, reminded again of why he loved her. The three teens didn't look phased, Lani looked at Mikaela impassively, a small sad smile on her lips.

"But since we're still here I assume they won." Axle's voice was soft, the scratchiness not as pronounced. Sam watched them, wary of their sudden mood change.

Before Sam or Mikaela could get a question in though a loud, shrill beeping ripped through the silence. The Autobots, Sam, and Mikaela were ready for battle; Bumblebee was over with the five humans in a flash covering them protectively.

"What is that?" Sam asked his guardian nervously.

"Proximity warning, something's coming." He answered tersely. Axel, Kai, and Lani merely looked over at Sandstorm who had his full attention on the sky, none of them seemed the least bit fazed by the Autobots' sudden alert.

A quiet whining sound that began to get progressively louder was soon heard over the annoying beeping. Abruptly the beeping was cut off, the whining was painfully loud and with an earsplitting screech a jet tore through the air just under the tree tops and as quickly as it appeared it was gone.

"What the fuck was that!" Mikaela's voice had lost all of its anger. Ironhide, Ratchet, and Jazz had their weapons focused on the path the unknown flyer had taken.

"Was it Starscream? There aren't any human jets that can fly through the trees like that." Sam's voice was shaky.

"No, it wasn't Starscream, he would have attacked." Bumblebee's scratchy voice wasn't as reassuring as Sam had hoped it would be. Without warning a warm, bubbling laugh began to resonate through the tense silence. Autobots and humans alike turned to look at Sandstorm who was laughing with pleasingly warm tones. Axel, Kai, and Lani looked at him with curiosity, but no apprehension.

"Something you'd like to tell us about Sandstorm." Ratchet sounded very, very annoyed.

"Well, if you believe in luck, it is your lucky day. You're right Sam, that wasn't a human aircraft, I don't know what a 'Starscream' is but I do know that, that particular aerial scout is named Moonwing." Sandstorm continued to laugh as he looked at Sam.

"How do you know my name?" Sam asked suspiciously.

"Duh, he can hear us. He's got some wicked hearing; he knows when the kid three houses down from us is trying to sneak out." Kai rolled his eyes, like Sandstorm's hearing capabilities were common knowledge.

"Sandstorm, what information do you have on the 'aerial scout'." Optimus was glaring at Sandstorm; his voice carried a biting, authoritative edge. Sandstorm turned to look at him, he smiled.

"I'm afraid he's not at liberty to discuss that information with unknown life forms. Much less life forms that have made less than friendly advances regarding said information." A calm and deep voice said.

The Autobots whipped around, weapons ready, and there standing only a hundred or so feet down the road were two of the biggest robots Sam had ever seen.

**oOo**

**Omni POV**

While his stance was open and seemingly non-threatening his voice was colder than a Russian winter. Sam felt a shiver of fear work down his spine; the robot reminded him of Megatron. He was the larger of the two his coloring was black and burgundy, and his overall form was similar to Sandstorm's, he wasn't bulky but he wasn't as slender as Sandstorm. He stood as tall if not taller than Optimus. His eyes weren't the strange aqua color of Sandstorm's either; they were a mottled purple/red color that shifted constantly, sometimes looking almost black. The thing that caught most of Sam's attention were the large bird like wings extending from the robot's back. Like his eyes they looked almost smudged with dark purples and reds.

The smaller of the two, smaller being relative to a mountain, was another mean looking robot. It stood defensively next to the black and red robot its eyes shifting from dark gold to neon yellow and back again, the yellows of the robot's eyes stood out starkly from the pitch black frame. It didn't move, it didn't even look alive but the thing's frigid yellow eyes were bright with life and made Sam shiver again. He didn't like this dark robot, there was something radiating from it that seemed to darken the air around it.

"Who are you?" Optimus' voice was as cold as the strangers, he shifted slightly placing himself more in front of the small humans at Bumblebee's feet.

Completely ignoring Optimus the strange robot turned his attention to Sandstorm, "Much as I hate to admit it, I have missed that annoying laugh of yours." He said warmly. Sam's eyes widened at the abrupt change in the demeanor the robot went through. The same voice that had been icy with malice only seconds before was now warm with friendly affection. Sandstorm flashed him a smile,

_Since you been gone, starin' at your photograph. And I know it won't be long, an' I know you're comin' back_.

The blaring music made Sam jump a good three feet into the air; the Autobots, equally caught off guard, turned all their weapons on Sandstorm who stood calmly in the circle of weapons laughing.

_Hello there, the angel from my nightmare, the shadow in the background of the morgue. The unsuspecting victim, of darkness in the valley_.

Sam again nearly had a heart attack when music began playing quietly from the trees. Sandstorm turned towards the sound and laughed again,

_Hey girl, you've got a fine laugh and I think I can get used to that and you're already used to laughing at me_.

The large black and red robot snorted as an answering laugh whispered through the trees. Stepping daintily from the shelter of the large maples and oaks on the side of the road a small charcoal gray and white mech emerged. Out of all the mechs on the road she was by far the smallest, she was shorter than both Bumblebee and Jazz.

"Where the hell are you guys coming from!?" Mikaela stared at the new mech and then looked back to Sandstorm and the still unknown robots down the road.

"Well, when two big robots love each other very much—" _**CLANG**_ Sandstorm stumbled forward a step as yet _another_ robot came up behind him and then whacked him solidly on the back of the head. This one was a fiery red and orange and was close to Ironhide's height, "The humans do not want to know how we reproduce." The new robot said in a light and clipped tone. She circled him once and nodded, "Glad to see you've kept yourself functional."

"Looks like I lost that bet." The small robot said. She had a light and lilting voice that reminded Sam of a gurgling brook. Sandstorm flipped her off, a very human gesture that caught Sam off guard.

"Optimus…" Jazz sounded frazzled as he tried to pick up on anymore approaching 'bots, he was thoroughly pissed, annoyed, and terrified that his scanners weren't picking up these strange new robots.

"Who are you?" Optimus barked. The commander was as angry as Sam had ever seen him and he had to admit, he was a little scared. At the sound of his voice all sounds on the road quieted. Optimus was glaring at the black and red mech with malice Sam didn't know the gentle giant possessed, Optimus addressed the large robot again, "Who. Are. You."

"I see no reason for you to be in possession of that information; especially if you're going to be a bitch about getting it." The nonchalance in the large mech's voice reminded Sam immediately of Sandstorm. Optimus and Ironhide both growled, a sound like boulders sliding against each other.

"'Hide." Optimus let Ironhide do what he'd wanted to do since meeting Sandstorm, without hesitation Ironhide's primary cannon discharged a warning shot that whizzed past the large mech's head. The black and red mech didn't flinch; a raised optic ridge was the only response he gave to Optimus.

"That's yer' only warnin'."

"_Big bang, big crunch, you know there's no free lunch. Kneel down and pray, here comes your judgment day. Big crunch, you know, it's gonna be quite a show. What comes around always goes around, yeah." _

The small robot's speakers came to life and Sandstorm snickered. A smile ghosted across the black and red robot's face. Ironhide's cannons crackled loudly and Sam was certain the grumpy old mech would like nothing more than to blast all five robot's into little pieces.

"Like I said, if you're going to be a bitch about it, I really feel no need to disclose that information to you." The burgundy 'bot sighed; without another look in the Autobot's direction the two large mechs turned and began walking away. The other two slipped silently in to the trees and without a whisper of sound were gone as quickly as they arrived. Sandstorm folded gracefully into his jeep form, opening the doors as the three forgotten teens ran towards him giggling and bubbling with questions. Ratchet, Ironhide, and Optimus blocked his way.

"We are not done with you, call your comrades back." Ratchet's voice was colder than usual; his twin blades glinted evilly in the bright moonlight. Without warning a bright flash and a concussive blast shook the trees and Autobots alike; the blast knocked Sam and Mikaela off their feet to the violently shaking ground. Spinning around Optimus almost fell into a newly created crater behind him.

"That will be your only warning. Let my soldier go and we'll not bother you again." The large winged mech was back in his previous spot the large cannon on his arm was smoking in the cool night air.

"_Oh good God, holy shit, joke's on us, not on them."_

From the depths of the trees the song echoed faintly. Without waiting for the 'okay' from the Autobots Sandstorm dodged around them towards the black and red robot that was again walking away. Within minutes the rumble of his engine faded and Sam, Mikaela, and the Autobots were left in a stunned silence.

Sam stared in disbelief at the massive smoking chasm in the ground. He was having a very hard time wrapping his mind around the size of the hole, it covered almost he entire right side of the road and the shoulder, the two large oak trees that had been standing there had toppled into the gash.

"Optimus, what the _hell_ was that?" Mikaela was shaken, she gripped Sam's hand almost painfully and he knew he was well returning the favor. Turning his ancient eyes to the small, scared girl he sighed, "I have no idea, but we are certainly going to find out. Anything that can cause that much destruction will definitely be sought out by the Decepticons. Until either the Decepticons are destroyed or we know we can trust these new robots, we will have to be on guard."

"How are we s'posed ta' stay on guard? Those four punks slipped in under our radar." Jazz was pacing back and forth searching the surrounding trees with something akin to paranoia. Optimus sighed again and looked to the stars and didn't answer. A loud beeping interrupted the gloomy silence that fell over the small group.

"Oh God, what now, don't tell me it's Starscream." Sam began to search the sky for any sign of the evil aerial 'bot.

"No, it's friendly. Optimus! Someone is responding to the beacon." Ratchet began speaking animatedly in Cybertronian; the mood shift the good news brought was palpable. After a few moments of discussion the Autobots began to transform, Bumblebee excitedly revved his engine as Mikaela and Sam climbed in. Optimus in the front of the group sped towards the answering Autobot signal.

**OoOoOoO**

A/N: And here we go again.

Songs:

Since you been gone- Outfield

Miss You- Blink-182

Hey Girl- Dashboard Confessional

Big Bang- Bad Religion

Holy Shit- Against Me!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Sam, Mikaela, or the Autobots. This never happened; I'm not making any money whatsoever.

_Loka: Five Minutes_

**OoO**

Sandstorm hadn't felt this lighthearted in…well it had been awhile. Axel, Kai, and Lani always kept him laughing and kept the loneliness at bay; but the sheer joy he felt by being with his long time friends and comrades made him feel lighter; especially seeing them alive and well.

"So, how've you been the last…since we last saw each other." Nightstalker asked. Despite his massive red and black wings he was leaning casually against the rocky side of the ravine they had set up base in. Sandstorm walked over to his commander and friend and gently rested his head on Nightstalker's chest. His core kept his metal pleasantly warm; Sandstorm had forgotten how warm they really were. He sighed contently and closed his eyes for a moment until he felt the quiet presence of Panther beside him. Opening his eyes again and turning his head he saw that the large all black mech had a rare smile on his face.

"We missed you too." Panther's voice was deep and quiet, like the silence at a still pool of water.

"You have no idea how _bored_ we were without you causing a crisis every other Loka." Nightstalker's burgundy eyes flashed in amusement but his tone was warm and affectionate. Sandstorm smiled, but didn't move from his comfortable position until…

"Sandy!" Moonwing's happy squeal was followed by an earth-shattering tackle. The small grey and white scout could move Panther if she wanted to; Sandstorm was airborne for a second before he hit the ground like a boulder.

"I missed you the most, these old scrap heaps aren't any fun." She laughed.

Lani, Axel, and Kai were staring at the large mechs in awe. Before today Sandstorm was the biggest thing they'd ever seen and here he was almost dwarfed by Nightstalker and Panther.

"So…you guys know each other?" Axel asked casually. He turned his clear brown eyes toward Nightstalker and then to Sandstorm who was still wrestling with Moonwing. Nightstalker let out a rumbling laugh, "Yes, we've known each other a long time. My apologies we haven't introduced ourselves. My name is Nightstalker. In technical terms I'm the commander of this motley crew, but I act more as mother and baby sitter." He chuckled.

"I know the feeling." Lani said lightly. Axel and Kai glared at her. Nightstalker snorted and continued his introductions, "This," he motioned toward the massive black mech next to him, "is Panther, our assassin and spy. Moonwing," he rolled his eyes and gave a careless gesture to the sparring robots, "is an aerial scout. You know Sandstorm, he's our weapons and demolition technician. Over there is Phoenix. She doubles as a scientist and our medic." He gestured toward the fiery red and orange mech that was busy fiddling with some equipment, "She can get cranky so watch yourself." He winked and ducked when Phoenix chucked a large limb at his head. Nightstalker stood and continued unfazed, "She's not here yet but Rayne is the last of our ranks. She's multi-purpose, though I tend to assign her with Panther pretty often." He finished.

"Awesome, I'm Illayna, Lani if you please." She said waving at the massive mech; he returned the gesture with a smile.

"I'm Axel." His scratchy voice came from her left.

"I'm Kai, the best one of the bunch." He beamed, Lani giggled and Axel shoved him into a tree. Nightstalker watched them and laughed, "I see why Sandstorm attached himself to you."

"I did no such thing, they followed me." He said indignant after finally shoving Moonwing off.

"Psh, you wish. You saw how awesome we were and you wanted to be just like us." Axel said crossing his arms and leveling Sandstorm with a smart ass look. Nightstalker shook his head, still smiling and listened to them argue. Lani walked up to him and climbed up the gentle sloping rock face to sit on a small outcropping near his shoulder. He waited with the patience of eternity for her to speak. Even with her bountiful energy she had an under current of calm and peace surrounding her.

"Will you tell me where you've been?" her quiet voice was like chimes in the wind; Nightstalker smiled and started telling the story of his many travels.

**oOo**

"How close was the signal?" Sam asked eagerly scanning the horizon for any out of place robots.

"It'll take us about twelve hours to reach where the initial signal came from. Then we have the task of finding where they actually went. They aren't going to be sitting there waiting for us; they've probably already taken an earth form and are speeding away from there as we speed toward them." Bumblebee's voice seemed to come from everywhere in the car.

"So we might not find this new guy for a few days?" Mikaela asked looking out the window.

"Yes, that's possible." Bumblebee replied.

"How do we know those kids and their friends are gonna skip town. I mean if you guys can't find them they could just slip a town or two over and we'd never see them again." She said turning from the window to look at the radio; Bumblebee slowed the tiniest bit as he considered her question. Then a moment later, "Optimus thinks you've made a very valid point, Jazz and we will return to Serenity to stake out the unknown robots." As he spoke he slowed and pulled a quick U-turn and then he and Jazz were speeding back to the town.

They made it back into town by early morning and started cruising around looking for the obnoxious jeep and the three humans.

"Maybe someone would know where we could look? If they get along so well with Sandstorm they can't be the most inconspicuous people." Mikaela said pointing to a small, somewhat crowded shop. Bumblebee rocked on his wheels in agreement and then he and Jazz pulled over to the curb. Sam gave her a weird look.

"What?"

"Inconspicuous?" he said in disbelief. Mikaela rolled her eyes, "I actually study for my vocabulary tests." And then she got out of the car and Sam scrambled to follow.

"Hi! What can I do for ya'?" the man behind the counter had a friendly smile and greeted them brightly as soon as they walked into the small store.

"Um, we're actually looking for some people that we think live here." Sam said walking up to him; Mikaela stuck closer to the door and looked at some of the trinkets in the window display.

"Well I'll see if I can help, who are they?"

"There's three of 'em, Axel, Lani, and Kai."

The man's face immediately clouded at the mention of the names, "Whaddaya want with them? You two don't seem like the usual type they hang out with." He looked at them both suspiciously.

"Um…I think one of them might've swiped my wallet?" Sam's voice rose a little at the end and he prayed the man would believe his obvious lie. The man shook his head sadly, "Those kids and their friends are a dark spot in this town. You have the best chance at finding them in the town park or the McGregor's Cemetery. If they're not there then they might've disappeared back into the forest. If that's the case you'll never find 'em, I don't think God Himself could find those urchins in that forest." He gave them directions to the park and the cemetery and wished them luck.

Jazz spotted the trio on a park table feeding ducks pieces of bread; there was no Sandstorm in sight. Bumblebee and Jazz pulled up in flanking positions and Sam and Mikaela quickly got out and walked over to the table. The three watched them impassively.

"What?" Axel's voice was an odd mix of cold indifference and genuine curiosity.

"Where's Sandstorm?" Mikaela demanded; Lani seemed to bristle at her harsh tone but she covered it quickly with a dazzling smile, "Chillin' with his friends, they haven't seen each other in awhile."

Axel and Kai nodded serenely; Sam moved a little more in front of Mikaela, there was something about the three youths that seemed…dangerous.

"Well, why don't you call him and his little friends up so we can have a nice little chat." Mikaela charged ahead either oblivious to the strange feelings Sam was getting from the three or simply not caring.

"Sandstorm's not trained like you lil' puppies there, he does what he wants and we do what we want." Kai's eyes flashed dangerously in the bright morning sun. Sam heard Bumblebee and Jazz rev their engines at the obvious insult.

"They are not 'trained' they are here to protect us." Sam spat out glaring at the three. No one insulted the Autobots, no one; after all they'd done for him and the Earth these little brats needed to show some respect.

"I'm pretty sure any questions you have for Sandstorm we could probably answer." Lani said tossing some more bread to the ducks.

"Whose side is he on?" Mikaela barked glaring at the small girl.

"He already told you that. He's a neutral." Axel yawned and then stretched out and lay on the table in the warm sun.

"What's he doing on Earth?" Sam asked next brushing off Axel's smart ass answer.

"Chillin'" Kai said; he tossed some smaller pieces of bread to a mother duck and her ducklings.

"Goddammit! You guys aren't answering any of these questions!" Mikaela huffed; she grabbed her hair tie from her wrist and threw her hair into a ponytail. Lani looked at her and cocked her head, "We've answered both your questions." She turned to look at the small road that led to the park, "Hey, it's been fantabulous talkin' with you guys but we've got things to do today." She gracefully hoped off the table and pranced over to the side of the road where a sandy colored jeep Rubicon was coming to a smooth stop.

"But given how persistent ya'll are bein' we'll certainly see you again." Axel's smooth laugh set the other two off and the air was filled with laughter. Both boys jumped off the table and followed Lani over to the jeep.

"Oh hell no! You guys think you can just walk away any time you want?!" Mikaela fumed, Sam stood next to her equally as angry. Bumblebee and Jazz whipped around to box the wily jeep in. Lani glanced at the Camaro and Solstice and then looked in the jeep, there was a loud sigh and then a man stepped out into the sun.

He looked like he was in his early twenties, his dark hair was gelled into a mohawk and the sun glinted brightly off his many facial piercings. His arms were covered in tattoos and he was dressed similar to the three youths leaning against the jeep; a black shirt with the letters _A.F.I_ scrawled across the front and black shorts that reached below his knees. Lani giggled and ran over and gave him a hug, he laughed as well and returned the hug.

"So you can make holograms too?" Sam asked eyeing the robot.

"Well it'd be kinda weird if there was a jeep runnin' around town without anyone drivin' now wouldn't it." He rolled his eyes, "Now, what the fuck do you want? We've got things to do, like they said, and I really don't enjoy your company." He glared at Bumblebee and Jazz. Axel patted the hood of the jeep affectionately, "Then why waste time with 'em, I bet you could out run these clunkers any day."

Sandstorm looked at him and snickered, "True, let's blow this popsicle stand kiddies."

"Yippie-Kai-Yay-Motherfucker!" Kai whooped and jumped in the jeep. Axel laughed and climbed in the back with him.

"Easy-squeezy-pumpkin-peezy-pumpkin pie motherfucker." Lani gave Sam and Mikaela the 'okay' symbol and hoped in the passenger seat; Sandstorm's hologram simply disappeared with an eerie, disembodied laugh.

"Bee!" Sam yelled; but the yellow car was three steps ahead of him. Working in sync he and Jazz quickly and efficiently cut off the jeep's escape route. Sandstorm sighed and after a moment the three teens hopped out of the jeep and with a quiet whirring of gears Sandstorm assumed his robot form.

"You are quite irritating, do you know that?" he sighed.

"What are you gonna do if someone sees you?" Sam asked, nervously looking around. The giant mech shrugged, "See what they do and act accordingly. Now what the fuck do you want? I've gotta life to live and I don't wanna spend it with you." He reached down and Lani immediately climbed into his hand, he set her gently on his shoulder while Axel and Kai leaned against his legs.

_It's my life! Yeah it's now or never, and I ain't gonna liver forever! I just wanna live while I'm alive, it's my life!_

Mikaela scowled as the music began playing, Axel and Kai snickered and started singing along as the song continued.

"We've already told you what we want to know, you refuse to answer us." Mikaela growled, still glaring at the mech.

"And I've already given you my answers. Tough shit if you don't like 'em. Your Optometrist or whatever the hell his name is isn't the boss of the universe. I'm not going to roll over and give him whatever the fuck he wants just because. I've got my orders same as you and your annoying comrades have theirs."

"His name is Optimus Prime. Get it right Sand trap." Sam barked. Sandstorm rolled his eyes, "That was clever; I hope you didn't hurt yourself thinking of it."

Lani leaned over and whispered to him for a moment, he chuckled and nodded, "C'mon boys, let's party."

_Let's get this party started, I'm sick of being you. You make me feel insane! We don't give to you, let's get this party started. You make me feel insane! I want to be the one to make myself sane_.

He reached down and the two boys climbed into his outstretched hand, he straightened up and carefully set the two boys next to Lani on his shoulder.

_I'm sick of the man, cause the man is a thief! I'm kicking the plan before the plan kicks me! I'm gonna get me, get me outta here, I'm gonna get me, get me outta here!_

And then he lightly stepped over Jazz and in only a few quick strides he disappeared into the surrounding trees. Only a few moments after he vanished into the dense forest a deep 'Thwack, thwack, thwack' echoed around the park and a second later two Blackhawks swooped over Sam and Mikaela and aerially followed the same path Sandstorm had taken.

**OoOoOoO**

A/N: Okay, time for new stuff! Thanks for reading and reviewing ^_^

Quotes Used:

"Easy-squeezy…"- Gerard Way

"Yippie-Kai…" Die Hard

Songs used:

Bon Jovi-It's My Life

Korn-Let's Get This Party Started

Jet- Get Me Outta Here


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own the Transformers, they're property of Hasboro. I don't own Sam or Mikaela, or Sector Seven, they belong to someone else. Basically, I don't own any of this and I'm not making any money. Oh, and it's fiction.

"…" = Communication link.

**OoO**

"What the hell? I thought we were done with Sector Seven?" Sam fumed. Mikaela was still angry with the teens and not so much with the annoying government agency, "Who cares! They'll find those kids and that robot and then they'll all finally answer some questions!"

Bumblebee's blond hologram stepped out of the car, "I radioed Optimus this morning while you were in the store getting directions. He's the one that notified Level Seven of the potentially dangerous robots. They said we would have their full cooperation in finding and interrogating these 'bots." He explained. Sam's shoulders relaxed a little and he nodded, "Okay, so, do we follow the choppers or do we wait here?"

"I'm all for following, Level Seven isn't really as tough as they think they are and I doubt these new robots are as careful with humans as we are." Jazz's hologram poked its head out the window and he revved his engine. Bumblebee nodded in agreement, "We should follow and give them back up, especially if they run into the rest of the group."

Sam and Mikaela got back into Bumblebee and the four once again sped off after the rogue mech.

They didn't make it very far in their alt modes, the forest was dense even in the fall with bushes and thick trees. Jazz and Bumblebee were forced to transform after they were only a half mile in. Sam and Mikaela were having a little easier time getting through the underbrush but the going was still fairly slow.

"Can you guys just follow Sandstorm's path?" Sam panted after a few minutes. Bumblebee nodded, "If we could find it. The vegetation looks completely undisturbed." He looked behind him at a fairly obvious swath of destruction that he and Jazz were leaving even with their cautious steps. Sam sighed, "Who are these guys. They're not Autobots, they don't look or even really act like Decepticons. What are they?"

"We can't rule out Decepticons quite yet." Bumblebee said, "They may not have been out right violent like Megatron, but they've not been friendly or cooperative either. They could be sympathizers with the Decepticons."

"Have you ever run into robots like them before?" Mikaela asked. Bumblebee and Jazz both shook their heads, "No, we haven't met any non-organic life that wasn't created by the Cube."

A sudden thought came to Sam with Bumblebee's explanation. He stopped pushing his way through the trees for a moment and looked at his beloved guardian, "Do you think they could have their own version of the Cube?"

The other three stopped as well and looked at Sam curiously, "I don't know, Ratchet might though." Bumblebee said.

"What're you gettin' at homie?" Jazz asked. Sam felt excitement building in his chest, "If they have something similar to the Cube maybe you guys could fix your planet after all."

Bumblebee and Jazz were silent for a moment, "That's a definite Optimus and Ratchet question." Bumblebee said, Jazz nodded, "But it's a good one. If we can figure out what's up with these 'bots maybe they'll help us." But the silver mech sounded doubtful. Mikaela shrugged, "We won't know 'til we find them." And she started moving again.

Jazz and Bumblebee were able to track Sector Seven's helicopters, and when they landed the two mechs scooped Mikaela and Sam up and took less care with trampling the flora.

Sam felt Bumblebee shudder when they burst into a clearing and found Sandstorm on the ground completely incapacitated by the freezing mist Sector Seven used. Sam patted one of Bee's fingers reassuringly as he was set down.

"This guy's not so tough." Agent Simmons gloated as he walked over to the four. Sam gave him a tight smile; he still hadn't forgiven him for taking Bumblebee. Mikaela settled for a curt nod. Above them the steady 'thwack, thwack, thwack' of chopper blades began to grow steadily louder. Sam looked up and saw two more helicopters join those already hovering.

"How are you going to get him outta here?" Mikaela asked, "It'll be hard to get a truck or something back here."

Agent Simmons smiled without any warmth, "We have procedures in place for occurrences such as this." As he spoke another pair of helicopters flew over them. The six skillfully maneuvered into a wide circle. The side doors opened and agents tossed out rolls of thick cables to the people on the ground. The ground agents immediately began tying and securing the cords to Sandstorm's prone body while another group continued to ice him down.

"There's a service road about four minutes flight time from here, we have a truck waiting for transport." Simmons said smugly. The agents with the cables gave Simmons a thumbs up and he pulled out a radio, "Package is ready for delivery."

As one the six helicopters began to rise with Sandstorm. Sam wasn't ashamed to admit he was impressed. Carefully the choppers lifted Sandstorm out of the trees and began inching toward the road where he would be dosed again with frozen nitrogen and then packaged up and sent to one of Sector Seven's many labs.

"We've already told Optimus where we're taking him." Simmons said after the drone of the choppers faded, "he said you had some things to take care of and then you'd meet us there." And with that he whistled loudly and shouted, "Let's wrap it up!"

The low growl of four wheelers starting up echoed through the forest. Like a well oiled machine the Sector Seven agents covered their tracks and quickly mounted the four wheelers and disappeared. Within fifteen minutes of the Autobots and humans arriving on the scene everything was gone and the forest looked mostly undisturbed.

"Well, I guess we should go catch up with the others." Sam said after a moment. Bumblebee and Jazz nodded and turned and began walking back through the forest following their previous paths. Sam had only gone a few feet when he realized Mikaela wasn't following him. He turned back confused, "Mikaela, what's up?"

Mikaela didn't look at him, instead she was poking around the bushes near where Sandstorm had been taken down. "Where are they?" she asked finally looking at him. Sam blinked, completely confused, "Where's who?"

"Axel, Lani, and Kai. You think they'd just walk away when Sector Seven showed up and captured Sandstorm?" she sounded a little irritated and, surprisingly, apprehensive, "Where'd they go?"

Bumblebee and Jazz returned, "I jus' scanned th' area. They're not here." Jazz said also sounding a little worried.

"You think they went to the road?" Sam asked looking up at Bumblebee. The yellow robot shook his head, "Even if they did it would take twenty minutes to walk there. Sector Seven will be long gone."

"Maybe…" Mikaela paused and then shook herself, "Maybe they went to get Sandstorm's friends." She finished shakily. Sam felt cold fear squeeze his heart. The very memory of the massive black and red mech made his knees a little weak. There were too many similarities between that thing and Megatron; the blood red eyes, the enormous power, and the almost sinister aura of the silent black mech that had stood next to him added to the feeling. Bumblebee and Jazz looked alarmed, "Good point Mikaela, we gotta find those kids." Jazz said.

"We need to find them and tell Optimus about this potential danger." Bumblebee said.

"How about Jazz and I catch up to Sector Seven and do escort duty and you and Sam stay here and see if they're still here." Mikaela suggested. The Autobots considered her idea for about a second and then nodded, "That'll work. Le's burn some rubber." Jazz said enthusiastically. Bumblebee nodded in agreement, "I'll update Optimus, you two need to get to that convoy."

Without another word Jazz began making his way to the service road. Sam ran over to Mikaela and gave her a tight hug and chaste kiss, "Be careful." He whispered. Mikaela smiled and hugged him tighter for a second, "You too." And then they released each other and she hurried to catch up with Jazz.

"Well Bee, how do we want to do this?" Sam asked once the passage of the other two had faded. Bumblebee looked around the clearing for a moment and Sam heard a whir of gears from somewhere deep inside him. He answered after another second, "According to the maps I found of the area there are only a few places that would make suitable base camp sites. We can start there and return to the town if we don't find them."

**oOo**

**Omni POV, Optimus**

They had raced through the night to get to ground zero of the beacon in hopes of finding definitive evidence on where their comrade had gone. The small group turned onto a dirt country road and headed toward a grassy field. There were few humans on the roads but one or two of them did give the strange convoy a second look but none tried nor wanted to stop them.

They found the earth scorched and the grass trampled heading for the road. Ratchet scanned the tracks and landing area with a critical eye, "It's not Wheeljack or First Aid." He said after a moment, "Nor Perceptor, Prowler, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, or Red Alert." He concluded. Ironhide usually didn't question the medic but now he looked at him with obvious disbelief, "How do you know that?"

"The landing site has a normal burn radius. Wheeljack was working on a new landing device; if it had been him the burn radius would either cover the field or be significantly reduced." He explained dryly. "The stride is too wide to be First Aid. The steps are light, there's not much damage to the grass; Perceptor and Prowler are too heavy to do that." His optics followed the barely discernable path through the grass, "Sunstreaker and Sideswipe would have landed together and left together and Red Alert is too paranoid to simply land and scan a form, he would have checked the field for Decepticons." He finished with a satisfied smirk. Optimus chuckled and Ironhide glared at the medic, "Show off."

"I'm impressed." A chuckling disembodied voice answered. All three Autobots jumped and brought their weapons online. Only a few feet away from Ironhide the air shimmered and then Mirage was standing before them.

"Mirage! What the slag are you doing?" Ratchet scolded. The spy only shrugged, "I thought I'd stick around for a day and see what showed up."

"And if there'd been 'Cons?" Ironhide rumbled grouchily. The old mech was not fond of being scared out of his spark casing. Mirage stayed unruffled, "Then I would've dealt with them if I had to." His demeanor was quiet and somber but brightened, "Fortunately no Decepticons have stopped by."

Optimus walked over and rested his hand on Mirage's shoulder, "Glad to see you again Mirage." He said warmly. Mirage smiled but a slight frown tugged his features when he looked the group over, "Bumblebee? Jazz?" he asked softly.

"Alive and well, we've run into a problem. They're working reconnaissance at the moment." Optimus assured him, "We need to get back to them so they have backup."

Mirage brightened again and nodded. Ratchet finished running his scans on the spy and gave him a clean bill of health. Optimus transformed, "Roll out team!" He steamed out of the field at full speed heading back to Bumblebee and Sam. A blur of white and blue zipped past him and Mirage cackled gleefully as he sped down the road.

_"Bumblebee will be happy to seem him again."_ Ratchet's voice crackled over the comm link. _"At least someone is."_ Ironhide grumbled. Optimus revved his engine in laughter, _"He's the help we need right now with these strange robots."_ He said practically. Mirage slowed down and dropped back, driving on the wrong side of the road he paced Optimus, _"What kind of problems have you been having Prime?"_

_"We found some rather unfriendly robots."_ He explained. Mirage revved his engine apprehensively, _"More 'Cons?"_

Ironhide laughed mirthlessly, _"You'll wish they were 'Cons. They're more annoying than the twins."_

_"And they have your ability to disrupt radar. That's why Bumblebee and Jazz stayed back."_ Optimus continued, ignoring Ironhide's interruption. Darting in front of Optimus again Mirage easily avoided an oncoming car, though the human driver didn't seem to find his evasive maneuvers as entertaining as he did. They blared their horn and shouted a few choice words out their window as they sped by.

_"I think we should review the rules of the road."_ Optimus chuckled.

**OoOoOoO**

A/N: Whooo! New chapter and a new character! Look at all this exciting stuff ^_^ Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Don't know, don't own. Never happened, it's all fiction.

**OoO**

**Omni POV, Bumblebee**

They searched for well over an hour and didn't find a trace of either the teens or the rest of the robots. Sam sat down on a rock and sighed in frustration, "How do you guys hide so well? I mean, you're as big as a house you'd think it'd be easier than this." He looked around the dense forest hopelessly.

"_Hide and seek, hide and seek, hide and seek, hide and seek, hide and seek, hide and seek, hide and seek, hide oh!"_

Bumblebee's speakers played softly. Sam snorted, "Worst game of hide and seek I've ever played." He looked up at Bumblebee and sighed, "We need to check town and if they're not there we've gotta burn rubber to catch up with Mikaela and Jazz." He said getting up. Bumblebee nodded and the two began navigating their way back to town. Sam had a gut feeling that the teens weren't going to be there either and he was anxious to get to Mikaela. He knew the girl could take care of herself, she'd proven that beyond a doubt, but still he worried about her.

They made it back to the town sooner than Sam had thought they would and immediately began searching the town. Inside the car Bumblebee's scanners hummed quietly as he quickly scanned over the areas they drove through, "They're not here Sam. I'm not picking up anything on my scanners or on any of the police frequencies." He sped through a yellow light and headed for the highway, "They've either found Sandstorm's friends or they're making their way there now."

Sam nodded, "Have you updated Optimus yet?" he asked. The car's engine revved, "Yes," he said happily, "they are on an interception course with Sector Seven and Jazz right now."

Sam looked at the small Autobot emblem on the steering wheel, the closest thing he could find to a face when Bee was in his alt form, "What's got you so happy?" he asked curiously. Bumblebee's engine hummed again, "The Autobot that landed last night was Mirage." He explained, "We've been friends since I was young." They hit the highway and the Camaro opened up, zipping past cars and dodging semis. Sam tried not to look out the windshield but he had to at least look like he was paying attention or everyone on the road would be reporting them to the state troopers.

"So what's Mirage like?" Sam said after a moment, mostly to keep his mind off the Autobot's insane driving. Bumblebee buzzed around a semi and darted in front of a Cavalier while he spoke, "Mirage is…he's just Mirage, like Ironhide is Ironhide. There's really no way to explain his personality you just have to meet him. He's quite pleasant though, not as high strung as Blurr or as insane as the twins." He paused for a moment and then asked Sam a question, "Sam, why is it when we're driving your vitals increase? I've asked Ratchet and he couldn't explain it either."

"Bee, your driving scares the hell outta me." Sam laughed nervously. "Most humans don't weave in and out of traffic doing a hundred and ten unless they're running from the cops."

"Oh, I hadn't realized that." But he didn't slow down. Sam sighed and rubbed his forehead, he was riding with Optimus on the way back.

They caught up to Jazz and Sector Seven as they exited the highway, Bumblebee zipped around the three cars in front of them, passing on the right, and paced Jazz. Mikaela waved and smiled at him and Sam weakly returned the gesture. The radio crackled to life and her voice filled the car, _"Bumblebee,"_ she laughed, _"what did you do? Sam you look like you're gonna pass out!"_ she continued laughing and echoing her he could hear Jazz's deeper tones as he laughed too.

_"Sam has informed me that my driving frightens him."_ Bumblebee said. Mikaela laughed again, "It could really use some work Bee, not even Jazz drives like you."

_"My driving is just fine."_ Jazz huffed. Before the conversation could continue Optimus' voice came over the comm link_, "Bumblebee, we received your update and we'll meet you at the Sector Seven base. Stay on alert team."_

_"Yes sir!"_ the two responded together.

**oOo**

**Sandstorm's POV**

His core was fighting tooth and nail to keep him online, already systems and functions unnecessary for survival had been offlined to give more power to his internal heating. Still, the freezing nitrogen mist the humans were coating him in was beginning to work its way in to the delicate wiring of his core and heat was being drained more rapidly. If his core got too cold, he would fall into stasis and if he wasn't warmed up again he would go offline for good. He was hoping his absolute fury would keep that from happening.

Usually he was a pretty going 'bot, sure he could be a little cynical but after several millennia of war who wouldn't be? Even during the many battles he'd fought in he'd been the one to crack jokes and keep their fragile moral up. Now, however, he was absolutely _pissed_. His scanners had been shut down to divert energy to his core but he had a feeling the little yellow and silver robots would be nearby when the humans reached the destination.

He was going to hit them with everything he had. And then he was going to tear Ophthalmologist or whatever his name was apart one gear at a time and strangle the rest of his motley little band with his internal wiring. Then he was going to blow up the whole damned planet. He amended that thought after a moment of reflection, he was going to blow up half the planet; Axel, Kai, and Lani would not be happy with him if he blew up the entire thing. First things first though: The silver and yellow robots would die.

**oOo**

**Omni POV, Optimus**

They arrived at the field outpost for Sector Seven, an innocuous looking warehouse a few miles outside of the city Sidburgh, only a few minutes ahead of Bumblebee and Jazz but they didn't wait around to greet their friends. Optimus had a nagging feeling that they were being watched by less than friendly forces. He ran a scan of the area but shut it down halfway through the cycle, if Sandstorm's team was watching them he wouldn't know it until it was too late.

"Optimus, I've got a bad feeling about this." Ironhide rumbled quietly after they transformed, Optimus nodded, "Me too old friend, me too."

Inside the warehouse was nothing spectacular. Piles of boxes of every shape and size stacked very orderly on shelves filled the room. Optimus scanned the boxes and found them all empty. A small portly man came huffing and puffing out of a side door and came to a stop in front of them. He looked up at Optimus with amazement and then gave himself a slight shake, "I'm Henry, the senior agent until Simmons gets here." He waved for them to follow and opened a box labeled 'fire extinguisher' and punched in some numbers on a keypad before closing it again. In front of them the floor began to raise, "We'll be taking the hostile robot downstairs, we've got a quarantine room set up and plenty of armed guards waiting." Henry called as he bustled down the ramp. Optimus took one last look around the warehouse before following the human into the depths.

The dim lights of the ramp gave way to bright fluorescents that glinted dully off the shiny cement floor and walls of the passageway. Optimus had a vague sense of claustrophobia register in his processor but did his best to push it away. He could feel the two points on his head lightly brushing the ceiling and his scanners indicated they were about three stories below the warehouse and gradually moving deeper.

"Sorry 'bout the long walk, but—hey, weren't there four of you?" Henry started to say when they reached a set of massive double doors. Optimus turned around and immediately saw Mirage missing. _"Mirage, report."_ The spy had a knack for finding Decepticons and Optimus did not want to deal with that at the moment. The link was filled with static for a moment and then Mirage's voice quietly whispered, _"I'm only a little ways behind you Optimus. I had a feeling we were being followed, so I dropped back and circled around. I can't find anything though; I've been walking up and down the hallway with my arms stuck out in front of me like a blind 'bot and I haven't felt a thing."_

Optimus looked down at the human, "I believe the security of this place has been compromised he informed him quietly. Henry's eyes widened and he pulled out a walkie-talkie and spat out a stream of code. Before Optimus could explain the situation further the hall way was flooded with humans carrying freeze packs and weapons outfitted to shoot .350 sable rounds. The fluorescents were shut off and ultraviolet lights kicked on, Optimus was surprised to see Mirage's faint outline just behind Ratchet.

Mirage shut down his field disruptor, "That's a bit inconvenient." He said lightly while searching the hallway for any other out of place robots. Optimus felt a growing sense of unease as he stared down the hallway. He radioed Jazz, _"What's your ETA Jazz?"_

_"We're on our way down Optimus."_ He replied cheerily.

_"Stay up top Jazz, the security down here has been compromised."_ Optimus ordered, _"I think Sandstorm's team has beaten us here and set up an ambush in the quarantine room."_

_"Yes sir, we've got your back."_

**oOo**

**Sandstorm's POV**

In his life e had found only two things that truly scared him: Flying blind through an asteroid field at full speed and being as close to helpless as he could get with a Druj in the vicinity. He wasn't anywhere near an asteroid field, but there was a Druj nearby slipping unseen through the shadows of the warehouse they had brought him. Usually when this happened he only ran his core on the minimum power required to keep him functioning and basically played dead, but if he did that the cold the humans were still spraying him with would kill him.

The result: A powerful energy signature coming bright and clear from his prone position on the back of the flatbed. He wasn't sure if he wanted to scream or cry. Always looking on the bright side of things, he only saw one. That meant its partner was already dead, they had been separated during their landing and was a far ways away, or it was hiding somewhere else in the warehouse and they were hoping to pin him between them. Not that, that would be difficult since he had no say whatsoever in where he went or when.

The silver robot called for the little convoy to wait though, apparently Epimetheus felt the security had been compromised. So the Druj's partner was alive and well and waiting for him below. Wonderful. He didn't have much longer, the Druj wouldn't risk his team showing up and saving his ass in the nick of time. If the convoy didn't start moving into their trap soon, the Druj still jumping around in the shadows would kill him.

He didn't have many options, actually, he had only two options. He could lay around and wait for death, which had never really appealed to him, or he could start diverting power from his core to his main weapon and hope to get off a lucky shot and also hope that his core would not freeze and send him into stasis.

He decreased power to some of his necessary systems to the minimum and brought his weapon system back online but didn't begin charging his weapon immediately. The Druj would be able to see his energy signature spike when he began charging and the thing would not waste time killing him. Instead he let the power build in his reserves hoping to fool the robot into thinking he was still trying to keep himself warm. Once he had enough energy in his reserves he could do an explosive power up and get off a shot or two before the Druj would know what was going on.

The next course of action was trying to loosen his ice encrusted joints so he could actually shoot the damn thing. He diverted some of his core's warmth to his arm and a warning light flashed at him. His core system worked much like the human heart. It produced warm air and heated the plasma that circulated through his body to keep his limbs limber and his joints from sticking.

When he grew too cold the plasma in their extremities was sent straight to the core to keep him operational, the result was the limb being absolutely useless. Without the plasma warming his metal and joints he couldn't do anything. Now by sending plasma to his frigid arm he was cooling it considerably before it returned to his core to be warmed again. Since his whole body was freezing his core was having difficulty maintaining the temperature it needed to function.

He ignored the light and little by little felt his arm beginning to loosen. His energy reserve was still building steadily but now there were more warning lights and dings telling him how thin his systems were being stretched. The Druj was growing impatient in the shadows.

**oOo**

**Sam's POV**

He felt like he was being watched, and it wasn't Bumblebee's protective gaze either. The yellow robot wasn't even facing him. He looked over his shoulder nervously and Mikaela squeezed his hand, "I don't think it's Sandstorm's friends." She murmured. Sam looked at her and shook his head, "Me neither." He agreed quietly. Mikaela tugged his hand and he willingly followed her over to where Jazz was standing guardedly next to the flatbed.

"Jazz," she called, not too loudly, but enough to get his attention, "What's up lil' lady?" he sounded relaxed, a direct contrast to his tense body posture. "I don't think it's Sandstorm's friends." She said. Jazz cocked his head to the side, one of his favorite human gestures, "Why not?"

Mikaela ran a hand through her hair, "I don't know, it just…I think if it was them they would've attacked already or at least shown themselves. I mean, they weren't very subtle the last time we met."

Jazz thought about what she said for a second and nodded slowly, "Good point." He said something to Bumblebee in rapid Cybertronian and then spoke again to Mikaela and Sam, "Optimus agrees, they're coming up here to give us cover."

Sam wasn't sure if that news relieved him or made him more nervous.

"We're gonna need another freeze team, we're into our reserves." A Sector Seven agent called. Simmons, who had been walking toward them, pulled out his ever present radio and quickly spoke to someone and then turned and gave the man an O.K sign. The man nodded and continued icing down Sandstorm.

"Our teams have combed those lower hallways, there's nothing down there." He looked at the Autobots suspiciously, "What exactly did you pick up?" he asked. Jazz shrugged, "I didn't get nothin'." He said easily, "But if Optimus thinks somethin's off, then somethin' is off."

Before Simmons could retort a deafening blast shook the walls of the warehouse. Bumblebee and Jazz both crouched over Sam and Mikaela protectively, the air humming with the combined power of the weapons. Sam wrapped his arms around Mikaela and searched frantically for the source of the blast.

"What happened? What the hell happened? Someone talk to me!" Simmons screamed. One Sector Seven agent stumbled over to him, his face white with fear, "I-i-it m-moved." He stuttered and pointed at Sandstorm. The robot was indeed in a different position than he had been. He had been laid out on his back, now he was slouched over on his side, the cannon on his arm smoking and the ice melting off it.

From the depths the pounding steps of the rest of the team could be heard as they ran up the ramp. Sam was expecting to see Optimus first and was startled when smaller blue and white mech shot out of the opening. Bumblebee let out a chirp and then a quick burst of twitters and clicks Sam had never heard him make before. He looked up at his guardian worried something had hit him in the head.

"Mirage!" Jazz said happily. The blur came to a halt next to Jazz and smiled pleasantly, "What's the problem Jazz?" he asked looking at the massive smoking hole in the wall. The rest of Autobot forces emerged from the underground with weapons at the ready.

"Jazz, report!" Optimus ordered. Jazz straightened, "I'm not sure what happened sir." He gestured to Sandstorm, "He managed to discharge his weapon."

Optimus looked the prone 'bot over with a critical eye. Ratchet came up next to him with a surprisingly worried expression, "Optimus his vitals are slipping. We need to stop icing him down."

Simmons sputtered next to Sam, "Absolutely not! Do you see what that thing just did? No, if anything we're doubling our efforts! Where's that other freeze team!" he shouted. Ratchet fixed him with a deadly glare, "Your freeze technique is disrupting his vitals, the cold is killing him." He said frostily. Sam pulled Mikaela closer to Bumblebee's leg, further from Simmons. Jazz grinned at him and Sam gave a slight shrug.

The blue and white mech, Mirage, walked over to them either oblivious of Ratchet's foul mood or not caring. "Bumblebee, I was hoping you were alright, and it seems your vocal processor has been fixed too." He said warmly pulling the smaller robot into a hug. Bumblebee chirped again and hugged him back.

"For the love of the AllSpark Bumblebee! Now you're speaking like an infant?" Ratchet fumed.

"We can discuss his speech functions later Ratchet, right now we need to focus on getting Sandstorm back online and secure." Optimus said.

"You have five seconds to get the hell away from my soldier before I reduce every single one of you to scrap metal and charred flesh." An eerily calm voice said from the other end of the building.

Immediately the Autobots and Sector Seven agents brought their weapons to bear. The black and red mech stood in the doorway with his cannon pointed calmly at Optimus' head.

"Who the hell are you?" Simmons barked. Sam gave the man an exasperated look, he picked the wrong time to grow a spine. Through the giant hole Sandstorm had made the small charcoal and white mech flew in and tackled Jazz to the floor. The humans surrounding Sandstorm scattered as the two mechs fell heavily making the ground shake and the concrete beneath them crack. The Autobots couldn't fire at her and risk hitting the newly resurrected Jazz. Optimus grabbed the small robot and literally threw her toward the red and black mech in the doorway. The little mech gracefully landed on her feet and promptly gave Optimus the finger before transforming and shooting a hole in the ceiling and disappearing into the blue sky above.

The metal wall behind them shrieked as it was torn open and two more dreadfully familiar robots stepped lightly through the seam: the massive black mech with yellow eyes and the fiery red and orange one. Sam looked back at the red and black mech and started when he saw yet _another_ robot standing next to him. This one reached about the middle of his chest and was a colored in soft blues and deep purples, its eyes were a lavender color.

The red and orange mech pulled Sandstorm back onto his back and her eyes glowed a neon red that reminded Sam too much of Decepticons. The color faded after a moment and she muttered something before saying louder, "He's in stasis, it'll take awhile to pull him out." She looked over the ice covering the sand colored robot and shook her head and muttered something else. The black mech stood as silent as ever, even his eyes had settled on a bright yellow and stayed there. He looked like a statue.

"We don't have time." The red and black mech said, still dangerously calm.

"You're not leaving until we get some answers." Optimus said dangerously, he had his own weapon pointed at the red and black robot's head. The red and orange mech shouted something in a language that sounded like music. Sam was so used to the clipped Cybertronian speech hearing the robot speak in another language startled him. He felt Bumblebee and Mirage tense too. The red and black robot only inclined his head and dropped his arm. The small scout came shrieking through the hole in the ceiling, "We need to go!" she said tersely. The lavender eyed robot fired twice at the supporting beams above them. The Autobots dropped their weapons and rushed to cover the humans as sheet metal and steel ribbing rained down on them.

Sam saw the motionless black mech suddenly reanimate and with more care than Sam initially gave him credit for it picked up Sandstorm's rapidly thawing body and left the same way it had come in. After a final deadly glare at the Sector Seven agents the orange and red robot followed. The small scout left through the ceiling again and Sam looked at the doorway and saw the lavender eyed robot had also disappeared again.

"If you continue to harass my soldier, or the humans he associates with, I will tear you apart." The red and black mech informed them, his low voice echoing around them, and then he too disappeared.

Once the debris had settled the Autobots stood up again, Optimus let out a frustrated sigh and Sam was pretty sure Ironhide was cursing the new robots in several hundred languages. After a moment Sam's knees firmed up again and his voice returned, "God he's scary." He whispered. Mikaela's hand tightened on his and she nodded, "They're all scary."

"I hate to say it, but; I wish Sunny an' Sides was here." Jazz said, still sitting on the floor and rubbing his head. One of the steel beams had landed solidly on top of him.

"Don't ever say that again Jazz." Ratchet growled checking him over.

"Ever." Ironhide agreed.

"We'd be able to handle them then," Jazz continued, "we all know how crazy they are. Sunny would've taken out that little 'bot and you know Sides would've gone after the black one."

"If we knew when they were going to show up you guys wouldn't have a problem handling them." Mikaela said, "But when they can come up behind you without you knowing it, there's no way. No one can handle that."

"We won't have that problem much longer." Optimus said glaring at the place where the red and black robot had stood. Sam looked at him and then realized one of the Autobots was gone, "Mirage?" he said softly.

"Tailing them, once he finds their base camp he's going to notify us and then we'll move in." Optimus explained.

**oOo**

**Mirage POV**

He had taken off as soon as the little blue and purple robot had shot down the ceiling. The debris had kept his fellows from firing at them, but it had also given him the confusion he needed to switch on his energy disruptor and take off after them. He decided to follow the massive black mech since he was encumbered by his sleeping comrade and wouldn't be able to transform. Above him he could hear the faint whine of the aerial fighter's engines.

He admitted he was impressed by the synchrony of the team, no words were spoken out loud or over their comm links. Unless they were using some unheard of frequency, which given the things Optimus had told them was a possibility, even then they moved flawlessly together. The red and orange femme stuck close to the black mech and fussed over the one in his arms while the aerial 'bot made passes overhead at varying intervals. The one he was presuming to be the leader took point while the smaller blue and purple 'bot took up the six. All and all, they moved like a well oiled machine.

The thing that really surprised him though was that they didn't immediately assume their alt forms. Understandably the black mech couldn't, but the other four could. Optimus would never tolerate them walking around in the open and risk humans seeing them, or worse yet, Decepticons.

The group stopped abruptly once it was about an earth mile away from the warehouse. The black robot gently set his comrade down and the red and orange femme took over. She tapped over his chest and Mirage watched with bemused fascination until with only a faint whisper of sound a panel slid open.

"Our time is very limited little ones, we need to get you safe." The black and red robot said quietly. To his surprise three humans quickly climbed out of the robot's chest. Only years of training kept him from wandering closer to examine the compartment. Autobots had similar compartments depending on their job; he knew Ratchet had a plethora of them for storage of medical supplies. He had two one each arm where he could store useful things he swiped from the enemy but no Autobot or Decepticon had a compartment in their chest. Another thought came to him: he didn't have a storage compartment in his chest but he did have a panel above his spark casing that Primus only knew how many times Ratchet had wrenched open to keep him online. The robot could have been keeping the humans with his spark casing. The thought made a small tremor go through him; not that the thought was repulsive, but their spark and spark casing was extremely sensitive and he would never even consider keeping anything close to it.

"Is Sandy gonna be okay?" a small flute like voice asked tremulously. The smaller blue and purple mech gently set her hand down and the human female and unhesitatingly climbed on, "He'll be fine love, we just have to get him warm again." The femme murmured reassuringly as she carefully lifted her.

"You may very well have saved his life." The orange and red femme said, "Your body heat gave his core extra warmth which helped keep him online as long as he did."

"We need to go." The black and red mech said quietly as he looked to the sky, the aerial 'bot flew by again and dipped a wing to the right. "We now have two forces to worry about." He reached down and the two human males climbed into his hand. Silently the black mech picked up their fallen comrade again and they set off at a brisk pace.

Mirage radioed his coordinates to Optimus and silently followed.

**oOo**

Surprisingly the team traveled through the day, mostly keeping to the less populated areas but during the night ventured closer to the human settlements where it was easier and faster to move. Mirage sent his coordinates to Optimus every time they stopped, which wasn't often, and maintained absolute silence the rest of the time. The robots he was following did to and he had discovered how carefully he needed to watch his steps when he nearly stepped on a dry limb that would have readily given away his position. The robots were on high alert and their watch didn't relax with the coming of night, if anything it grew.

The humans had remained quiet and watchful as well, the small female sat on the blue and purple femme's shoulder and watched the scenery around her while also keeping an eye on the still sleeping sand colored robot. The two males were in a similar position on the leader's shoulders. He found this behavior to be a little disconcerting, from what he had read online and what he had been told and observed of Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes the humans should have been alive with questions. Yet they sat silently. He would have to ask Jazz and Bumblebee about it later.

It was far past his recharge time when the small group began to slow, he held back a little more as they descended into a ravine. He circled wide to the left and crept to the ridge of the ravine. The group had stopped and once again the sandy mech was on the ground with the orange and red femme fussing over him. Their body language told him their journey was over and that they had reached their base camp. He sent Optimus the encrypted message and settled into a comfortable position, the more information they had on these strange robots the better it would be for everyone.

The aerial 'bot came in low and transformed mid-air dropping to the ground gracefully in front of the red and black mech, "I circled as wide as I thought prudent, we managed to lose them somewhere. I doubt it'll be for long though." She said. The larger robot nodded, "Thank you Moonwing. Go rest, gods only know when those other robots will catch up to us."

"I estimate three hours based on the last transmission." The blue and purple femme said casually. Mirage felt his spark skip a beat and slowly began to inch away from the ravine, until he hit a distinctly metal surface with, what sounded like, a catastrophic boom in the silence. He froze and scanned the ravine, the black mech was gone.

**OoOoOoO**

A/N: Woot, woot! Danke for reading and reviewing. ^_^

Song:

Dannii Minogue- Hide and Seek


End file.
